DICV sales grow 37% in 2015

ORAGADAM: Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), the maker of BharatBenz trucks, on Thursday said that its domestic sales increased by 37 percent to 14,000 units in 2015.

DICV, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, said that the demand for BharatBenz products in 2015 rose especially in the heavy-duty segment.

“2015 has been another successful year for us. With our portfolio of modern trucks, we have powered ahead on our growth course domestically in India and in our export business, said Erich Nesselhauf, Managing Director and CEO of Daimler India Commercial Vehicles. "This success was made possible thanks to the excellent contributions of the entire team and our partners.”

In May 2015, DICV also invested Rs 425 crore in expansion of the company’s manufacturing operations in Oragadam and entred into bus segment with BharatBenz staff buses and Mercedes-Benz Super-High-Deck (SHD) luxury coach.

The company claimed that it also crossed the 4-million exports mark of Indian-made parts to other Daimler Trucks entities across the globe. DICV, apart from manufacturing BharatBenz brand, also exports FUSO-branded trucks, as part of Daimler Trucks Asia.

Commenting on the company’s outlook for 2016, Mr. Nesselhauf said “With important new BharatBenz product generations hitting the market in 2016, we are committed to sustainably grow our business as part of Daimler Trucks Asia. Both in the medium and heavy-duty segment we will once more raise standards and customer value. At the same time, Indian-made FUSO trucks will play a key role in opening up important growth markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.”

In fact, segment leaders like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp have reported de-growth of 34.3 per cent, 45 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively giving a clear indication of a prolonged slowdown in the sector.